Many different types of sensor devices exist for providing information about the tires of a wheeled vehicle. For example, maintaining recommended tire pressure is important to insure proper tire tread wear and safe vehicle operation. Moreover, features such as automatic stability and traction control in cars have made it necessary to obtain information about the vehicle's tires and the interaction between the tires and the road surface. Sensors for providing such information typically are mounted to each of the vehicle's tires, and the information from the tire-mounted sensors can then be transmitted to a computer system situated in the vehicle, for example.
It is also desirable to associate the information being provided by the sensors with the particular tire to which the sensor is mounted. In other words, it is more useful to notify the driver of the vehicle that the right-front tire pressure is low, for example, rather than simply providing an indication that the pressure of one of the tires is low.
In typical systems, the tire sensor transmits an identifier, such as a serial number, along with the detected tire parameters. The vehicle's computer can then compare the identifier received from the tire with serial numbers stored in its memory to verify that the particular tire is mounted to that vehicle (as opposed to another vehicle parked nearby, for example) and correlate the serial number with an associated tire location stored in the memory. However, if the position of the tire is changed due to routine tire rotation, replacing a damaged tire, etc., the location information needs to be updated in the vehicle's computer.